Electrical vaporizer



Oct. 3, 1939. ROBINSON 2,174,531

ELECTRICAL VAPORI ZER Filed Feb. 24, 1936 INVENTOR. Jo SEPH ROBIN 5 ON BY w A TTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to Vaporizers of the individual hand type for use in generating vapors for direct inhalation in the treatment of head colds, catarrh, sinus infection, asthma, hay is fever, and other afilictions of the respiratory organs. The invention is an improvement on the construction shown in my co-pending application, Serial No. 44,236, filed October 9, 1935, particularly in regard to manufacturing costs, and in respect to the switch assembly and the method of securing it in the base of the instrument. The cover or cap of the present improvement is provided with a removable tip, made of paper or other inexpensive material, which is intended to be discarded after use.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a vertical section through my improvement;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the cap or cover C shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional plan View on approximately the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional plan view on approximately the line 4-4 of Figure 1, and

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation through a portion of the lower end of the base D. In this figure the upper portion of the switch blades are broken away and the remaining part of the switch assembly is shown in front or face View.

The heater A, the combination container and sleeve B, and the cover or cap C of the present invention are the same as the like parts shown and described in my aforesaid co-pending application, with the exception that in the present invention the cover C terminates in a vertically extending cylindrical neck 8 which snugly but removably receives a tip 9 made of any suitable material such as paper. This improvement in the insulating cover C is conducive of hygiene when a single vaporizer is used by the various members of the family. The arrangement also permits the supplying of a set of tips 9, in durable material of different colors, for each family member. On the upper end of the elongated hollow base D is mounted the heater A, and the combination container B, which also includes the cup I0. These are anchored securely in place by crimping the lower edge of the container over a shoulder on the base D as at H. The base is provided with a pair of diametrically opposite vertically extending slots or grooves l2 the three walls of which taper slightly from the bottom, or from the neighborhood of the bottom, of the slots to their upper ends. The slots are occupied by the switch assembly E which fits tightly therein. This assembly includes a pair of plates 14, made of any desired material such as fibre, to which the laterally inclined vertically extending blades 15-18 are securely attached by means of hollow rivets or other devices lll8. 5 It also includes a spacer member l9 also made of insulating material. It will be observed that the rivets l'I-IB anchor the terminals 202| of the cord F to the blades I5 and IE respectively. These blades are preferably made of light resil- 1 ient material such as spring brass. Blade l5 may contact the base D as at 22 to form a brace for the horizontally extending portion 23 of the blade. Normally this portion is disposed in an inclined plane. It is brought to the horizontal position when the contact member 24 of the heater A is drawn down against it. This occurs when the lower edge of the sleeve B is turned over its complementary shoulder on to base D as at H. The spring tension thus set up in the 20 blade l5 assures firm and constant engagement with the contact part 24 of the heater. This contact part passes through an opening in the projection 23 of the blade, the arrangement serving to retain the upper end of the blade in 5 the proper position. This is important inasmuch as the blade [5 is for reasons of economy secured to its plate 14 by the single rivet 18. The contact blade I6 is secured to its plate I 4 by twin rivets i1, and is actuated by a push button 25 to bring it into engagement with the contact washer 26 of the heater A.

My improvement is assembled as follows: The cord F is inserted in the base D, the terminals 2ll'2i being small enough to pass through the 5 cord opening in the base. The cord is then drawn through the base and the blades l5l6 are assembled on their respective plates l4 by the rivets ll-l8 which serve also to secure the terminals 2| to the switch blades. The cord is then knotted 0 to engage the interior bottom of the base D to relieve the terminals of undue strains in service. The separator is is then placed between the plates 14 and the switch assembly thus completed is inserted in the slots 12 and drawn or 5 pressed against the stops 2'! at the bottom of the slots, Figure 5. Preferably the switch assembly tightly fits the grooves I2 for a distance upward from the bottom 21 of the grooves equal approximately to the height of the plates [4. From this point upward the grooves preferably taper as heretofore described and serve, in this area, as ways or guides for directing the plates 14, and the separator IE], to the final assembled position, Figures 1, 4 and 5. It will be under- 66 stood, of course, that the grooves may terminate a short distance above the plates 14 if desired, and that they may end at a point farther from the bottom of base D than shown at 2! in the present drawing. It will be likewise realized that inasmuch as the rivets I'I-I8 are staggered, the rivet l8 lying between the other two, the separator I9 is not essential. It is, however, preferred for reasons of safety. Whether or not the separator is used the plates 14 are bowed slightly in plan view, Figure 4, by the inner heads of the rivets l'll 8. This bowing produces spring tension in the plates which prevents the blades working loose in the grooves I2.

What I claim is:

1. An electrical vaporizer of the character described, comprising in combination, a container for the medicament to be vaporized, means for directing the vapors of said medicament, a heater for producing said vapors, a hollow base on which said container and heater are secured, said base having a groove formedin a wall thereof and opening toward the center of the base, a switch assembly including a member tightly mounted in said groove, a blade secured to said member and extending upwardly and adapted to engage a part of said heater whereby to restrain the member and blade aforesaid against upward movement, an electric cord, and means for connecting the cord to said blade and said member.

2. An electrical vaporizer of the character described, comprising in combination, a container for the medicament to be vaporized, means for directing the vapors of said medicament, a heater for producing said vapors, a hollow base provided with a pair of oppositely arranged grooves the bottoms of which serve as stops for vertically positioning a switch assembly, a pair of plates mounted in said grooves and spanning the interior of said base, a pair of vertically arranged switch blades extending from said plates to said heater, one of said blades being turned laterally into engagement with said heater, said laterallyturned portion of the blade being arranged vertically to produce a spring tension against said heater and one of said plates when said heater and said container are assembled on said base, an electric cord provided with a pair of terminals, and a common means for anchoring said terminals and said switch blades to said plates.

3. An electrical vaporizer of the character described, comprising in combination, a container for the medicament to be vaporized, means for directing the vapors of said medicament, a heater for producing said vapors, a hollow base provided with a pair of oppositely arranged inwardly facing grooves, a member mounted in said grooves and spanning the interior of said base, a blade extending upwardly from said member into en gagement with said heater, said blade being provided With an opening through which a portion of said heater extends to prevent rocking of the blade in the base, an electric cord provided with a pair of terminals, means for anchoring the terminals in place with one of the terminals engaging said blade, and means for freeing said terminals of undue strains in service.

4. An electrical vaporizer of the character described, comprising in combination, a container for the medicament to be vaporized, means for directing the vapors of said medicament, a heater for producing said vapors, a hollow base provided with a pair of vertically extending inwardly facing grooves, a pair of plates mounted in and closely fitting said grooves, stops for vertically positioning said plates, means between the plates which bow the plates laterally away from each other intermediate their outer edges and cause the plates to occupy said grooves with a Wedging action, a pair of outwardly flaring vertically extending resilient switch blades anchored to said plates and adapted to engage said heater, and means secured to said blades for conducting current thereto.

JOSEPH ROBINSON. 

